Growing Retail Theft: "Dick's Shrinkage"

[CliffFletcher]

I don’t know about historical data, but the Retail Council of Canada says losses from shoplifting are up 300 per cent in the last three years.

Brick and mortar retailing is already in steep decline with the rise of online shopping. Before we dismiss concerns over shoplifting as whining by mega-corps, we might want to consider who will gain and who will lose from an acceleration of the downward spiral of brick and mortar and the rise of Amazon. I’d suggest the poor and working class, as well as small businesses, will be among the losers.

[Red Slinger]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

This is basically the sick of the crack heads thread but replacing crackheads with shoplifters

If you make something socially acceptable - stealing , drugs in public - you will see a rise . And that rise will lead to another rise

There are a ton of very complex and different reasons why a person partakes in either on both ends of the spectrum , but in the end if a society accepts the behaviour it will continue to spread regardless of any other actions

Giving these looters $1000 a month for food isn’t going to stop the looting . It’s just going to make the looters $1000 richer

No one is worried about the toothpaste being taken here and there by a grandma or a kid eating a grape . It’s the organized full looting that is now socially accepted .

These aren’t “down on their luck citizens “ . These are criminals

You rightly point out that there are usually complex reasons for this behavior. Unfortunately, usually the proposed solutions are simplistic and don't address the root causes. Things like:
-believe in God
-beat them
-lock 'em up
-teach the right values

Until the root causes like generational poverty, income disparity, minimum wages, taxes, etc are addressed, you can pray, punch, incarcerate and indoctrinate all you want but it won't fix the problem.

[CliffFletcher]

The notion that people only steal because they’re in poverty is pretty insulting to the great majority of people in poverty who don’t steal, and who are often the victims of the ####bags who do.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t know about historical data, but the Retail Council of Canada says losses from shoplifting are up 300 per cent in the last three years.

Brick and mortar retailing is already in steep decline with the rise of online shopping. Before we dismiss concerns over shoplifting as whining by mega-corps, we might want to consider who will gain and who will lose from an acceleration of the downward spiral of brick and mortar and the rise of Amazon. I’d suggest the poor and working class, as well as small businesses, will be among the losers.

A lot of the calling out of retailers for "record profits" are pretty baffling. Most retailers are not putting up record profits. Many are struggling. It's also not just big corporations who are being stole from and vandalized. It's small businesses too. I know of several businesses that shut down after their windows were repeatedly smashed.

The end result of the current environment is going to be to drive most retailers out of business and leave the mega-corps like Walmart and Amazon without any legit competition.

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The notion that people only steal because they’re in poverty is pretty insulting to the great majority of people in poverty who don’t steal, and who are often the victims of the ####bags who do.

Yeah...I don't think the people robbing Nordstroms in a Flash mob are looking for basic food staples...

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

In the grand scheme of things? Yeah. What are you doing about it, what are they?



“Whatever” doesn’t mean stealing is OK and people should feel comfortable stealing. It’s a reflection of the effort put in by people whose job it is to stop it from happening.



I’m not saying you don’t care enough. But malls, big box retailers, and major grocery stores want to pretend it’s a big deal when they do basically nothing to prevent it.



Do you think someone working at Dick’s or Walmart or Superstore should see someone stealing and give a crap enough to do anything other than tell someone whose actual job it is to stop it that it’s happening?







No ####. That’s why it’s against the law.

What can I do? Huh? What can we do? We started leaving empty boxes for electric toothbrushes to bring up front for purchase and sales declined more than 30%. We legally cannot stop people from stealing. I got a security guard in at $50,000 a year. Shrink still grew. We are contractually obligated to have a certain presence for fragrances and the packaging may not be defaced with security tags. I increased staffing in cosmetics to deter but more people came in to distract while stealing. We report every theft over $100 to the RCMP, and that takes up over an hour every week of mine and my managers time.

First you derisively call it "whatever". Then you back track and blame the retailers for theft have zero idea what were actually doing. Classic

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by GGG

It might be silly but to some degree it’s likely true. Religion likely evolved to maintain social order through self enforcement.

You only need to look at effectivenes of pandemic measures to see the difference between individualist and collectivist societies. Religion was one of the few remaining collectivist pulls in North America so its decrease without replacement is likely to lead to more individualist actions.

This doesn’t mean religion is good or beneficial just that the means of enforcing the social contract will change as a society becomes less religious

You only need to look to almost any religious person anywhere to realize they are just as bad as any other human.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

What can I do? Huh? What can we do? We started leaving empty boxes for electric toothbrushes to bring up front for purchase and sales declined more than 30%. We legally cannot stop people from stealing. I got a security guard in at $50,000 a year. Shrink still grew. We are contractually obligated to have a certain presence for fragrances and the packaging may not be defaced with security tags. I increased staffing in cosmetics to deter but more people came in to distract while stealing. We report every theft over $100 to the RCMP, and that takes up over an hour every week of mine and my managers time.

First you derisively call it "whatever". Then you back track and blame the retailers for theft have zero idea what were actually doing. Classic

You’re doing all you can do.

Classic what?

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

You only need to look to almost any religious person anywhere to realize they are just as bad as any other human.

I was only half kidding about the godless society.

Take the flashmobs for instance. If 38/50 people in 1980 feared burning in hell for all eternity for stealing, they may influence the other 12 and no flashmob robbery occurs. If only 12/50 people in 2023 fear burning in hell for all eternity, they probably just join the other 38 who aren't afraid to "sin" and the robbery occurs.

Just saying it's plausible.

Religion, of course, has other problems associated with it.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t know about historical data, but the Retail Council of Canada says losses from shoplifting are up 300 per cent in the last three years.

Brick and mortar retailing is already in steep decline with the rise of online shopping. Before we dismiss concerns over shoplifting as whining by mega-corps, we might want to consider who will gain and who will lose from an acceleration of the downward spiral of brick and mortar and the rise of Amazon. I’d suggest the poor and working class, as well as small businesses, will be among the losers.

I think first and foremost we should be looking at what is causing the increase. I’d be willing to bet that this isn’t something isolated to brick and mortar stores as package and parcel thefts are probably up as well.

Making the punishment for shoplifting more severe could help but at the end of the day so long as people can’t afford basic necessities there’s going to be people stealing them and a market for the re-sale of stolen goods.

[afc wimbledon]

Stores have been cutting back on staff for years, long before self checkouts, this is the inevitable result, I dont even blame the thieves at this point

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t know about historical data, but the Retail Council of Canada says losses from shoplifting are up 300 per cent in the last three years.

Brick and mortar retailing is already in steep decline with the rise of online shopping. Before we dismiss concerns over shoplifting as whining by mega-corps, we might want to consider who will gain and who will lose from an acceleration of the downward spiral of brick and mortar and the rise of Amazon. I’d suggest the poor and working class, as well as small businesses, will be among the losers.

Not in the long run, after a revolution.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The notion that people only steal because they’re in poverty is pretty insulting to the great majority of people in poverty who don’t steal, and who are often the victims of the ####bags who do.

I'd like to know the share of theft that is done by addicts. If we have escalating addiction, it may not be super surprising that we have escalating theft?

[SutterBrother]

Get ready for the fun murderious rise in vigilantism. Once citizens conclude that the state won't protect them, they eventually get fatigued of the status quo, and really really bad things start to happen.

The vigilante will garner a good amount of support for their actions, and with social media... well, get ready.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_N...ubway_shooting

The shootings initially drew considerable support from the public.[90][91] A Daily News-WABC-TV poll released in January 1985 showed 49 percent of the 515 New Yorkers questioned approved of Goetz's actions, while only 31 percent disapproved.[92] A special hotline set up by police to seek information was swamped by calls supporting the shooter and calling him a hero.[93][94] In March, Morgenthau reported that the letters his office received were running 3 to 1 in Goetz's favor.[95] The same month, a Gallup poll interviewing 1,009 adults found that 57% of respondents approved of Goetz's shootings and two-thirds said that Goetz had acted in self defense.

I guess the murder of Jordan Neely guy earlier this year sort of bears it out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Jordan_Neely

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Not in the long run, after a revolution.

What do you envision this revolution you keep bringing up looking like?

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The notion that people only steal because they’re in poverty is pretty insulting to the great majority of people in poverty who don’t steal, and who are often the victims of the ####bags who do.

Do you have any data that supports an argument that rich people are responsible for a lot of shoplifting.

I don’t think anyone is saying all people living in poverty steal.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Nufy

Yeah...I don't think the people robbing Nordstroms in a Flash mob are looking for basic food staples...

It’s pretty clearly part of the overall decay of society. A healthy and financially secure populous doesn’t resort to these kinds of tactics. We don’t have enough money for police or a social safety net or education. Why? Because Amazon et al pays zero tax and they pay their employees welfare wages.

This is 100% self inflicted by giant retailers. And they’re bringing down the mom and pop stores while they’re at it. Not to mention endangering their staff and customers. But they give zero ####s because safety over profits.

[undercoverbrother]

I once stole a Charleston Chew in grade 6 to impress a girl.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t know about historical data, but the Retail Council of Canada says losses from shoplifting are up 300 per cent in the last three years.

Think about that time frame for a second. Why is 3 years ago, when retail activity was a shell of its normal self, some sort of useful baseline to judge shoplifting losses? Perhaps they're going for shock value rather than useful data (and it seems to be working)?

Longer-term numbers would be much more useful, but the Retail Council of Canada doesn't seem to be providing them. They're available for the US though. And there, retail losses have increased compared to before the pandemic, but not even in the same universe as 300%. The last numbers I saw showed about a 25% increase in losses compared to pre-pandemic, which when adjusted for the 20% inflation over that period and/or % of sales, really isn't that much of an increase at all.

[Matata]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

What do you envision this revolution you keep bringing up looking like?

The lower classes unite under a socialist banner, overthrow the current ruling class and an enlightened bourgeois class will be enlisted their place, running society based on egalitarian ideals.

Personally, I look forward to being paid a livable wage to write bad poetry and watch Hentai all day.